This blog is mostly irrelevant. Somewhat irreverent. Read it with a pinch of salt.

Main menu

Tag Archives: siliconcape

Finally you can get quality content on your mobile phone that doesn’t consist of a farting monkey ringtone costing R30 a week. Elodie Kleynhans (@elodiek) this week started shooting the Soccer Babes (http://www.soccerbabe.co.za) show with 3 presenters providing a daily dose. If you like what you see in this video, you can subscribe yourself by SMSing ‘SB’ to 31904. (R2.50/show – you’ll need a phone that can play video)

30 March 2010, Johannesburg: Vodacom and Nedbank today announced a joint initiative to bring M-PESA, the biggest global success story in mobile money, to South Africa. M-PESA is an innovative mobile money solution which has already seen enormous success in other African markets, as well as in Afghanistan; enabling even unbanked customers to transfer money from person to person using a cellphone. As Vodacom???s preferred banking partner in the project, Nedbank has engaged proactively with the banking regulator, ensuring that the initiative will meet all requirements set out by the South African Reserve Bank.

??

Shameel Joosub, Managing Director, Vodacom South Africa, said: ???Nedbank is the ideal financial services partner for this venture. With their proven track record of providing financial services to those who are traditionally unable to afford it and their innovative approach to banking, we know they will bring a new dimension to the project. Both Nedbank and Vodacom are confident that M-PESA is going to change the lives of ???unbanked??? South Africans and we are looking forward to the imminent launch of the product.???

??

Saks Ntombela, Managing Executive, Nedbank Retail, said: ?????As a bank for all South Africans', we are delighted to be a part of this innovative, simple money transfer product which offers easy access to funds. We are particularly excited about this offering being attractive to the previously unbanked population who are not yet part of the formal banking system.?? Nedbank strives to understand our customers??? needs and is committed to then ensure that what we deliver is a financial product that is easy to use. This illustrates a shared vision between Nedbank and Vodacom.???

??

Added Joosub, ???M-PESA has a successful track record in other markets. With the backing of Nedbank and Vodafone, as well as the power of the public???s trust in the Vodacom brand, all of the signs are there that M-PESA is going to revolutionise the way South Africans transfer, share and spend their money.???

??

The M-PESA service was originally created as a pilot funded jointly by Vodafone and the UK Department for International Development [DFID] Financial Deepening Challenge Fund. Since then, the service has proved immensely successful in the Kenya, Tanzania and Afghanistan markets with more than 10 million M-PESA customers. Vodafone first announced its intentions to repeat its success in South Africa at the GSMA Mobile World conference in Barcelona earlier this year.

If you’re struggling to put together an Elevator Pitch for next week’s Silicon Cape Networking Event, just focus on answering the following 5 W’s:

1. What does it do? Begin your answer with, for e.g., “We provide…”

2. Who does it do it for? For example, say, “For small and medium web design companies…”

3. What’s in it for them?

4. Why is your company different? with “As opposed to” or “Unlike.”

5. What is your company? I.e. is it a SaaS company? A BioTech company? A Design company?

Here’s Skyrove’s elevator pitch:

Skyrove makes it easy for anyone to get their own Wi-Fi hotspot and share internet with their guests, tenants or neighbours. In this way Skyrove creates an income for small entrepreneurs while also bringing down the cost of internet to end-users.

You could say I’ve been giddy with excitement. But, of course, getting PayPal, M-PESA and Uncapped Broadband YEARS after the rest of the world pales in comparison with how excited I get when faced with the opportunity to hear South African entrepreneurs reveal the products they’ve been working on.

Next week the Silicon Cape Initiative will be having its much anticipated 2nd networking event. This time, instead of having a successful entrepreneur giving a talk, there will be a dozen or so entrepreneurs revealing brand new ideas and businesses to the Silicon Cape community what they’ve been working on in their garages (or heads!). These talks will be done in the format of a 60 second elevator pitch. That way, our intrepid entrepreneurs will be forced to say exactly what their product does.

No time for history, market projections or product demos (unless you talk really, really fast)